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Berg plans video announcement Monday for U.S. Senate bid

FARGO – North Dakota Rep. Rick Berg will be using an alternative method to announce his (presumed) bid for the U.S. Senate next week.

Rather than kicking off the campaign at a traditional celebratory event amid a throng of supporters, the Republican freshman congressman plans to reveal his intentions online through a video announcement on his political Facebook page Monday evening.

The official advisory from Berg’s camp comes less than 24 hours after Politico broke the news of Berg’s forthcoming announcement regarding the 2012 race.

Although Berg’s office hasn’t confirmed the focus of the congressman’s announcement on Monday, a statement from his spokeswoman today left no question as to his intentions.

“Last year, North Dakota sent a clear message that Washington is broken and the same common sense principles that propelled North Dakota to economic prosperity are needed to get Americans back to work, encourage investment in our national recovery and get our country back on track,” Berg spokeswoman Alee Lockman said. “It is important to Rick and Tracy to first announce their intentions to the thousands of grassroots supporters from across the state whose hard work and commitment to changing Washington fueled this historic change.”

Berg’s video announcement will be sent to email subscribers and Facebook fans sometime Monday evening. In an age driven by social media, several politicians have begun taking to Facebook and YouTube to announce their candidacies for higher office. Most commonly, that technique is being used recently by candidates jumping into the 2012 presidential race.

After the digital announcement, Berg has planned a round of in-person events throughout the state next week. The exact times and locations of those events have not yet been announced.

Not unlike Berg’s legislative aide Jonathan Casper – who’s on a “temporary leave of absence” from the congressional office – Berg’s official spokeswoman Alee Lockman will also be transitioning into more political operations.

The advisory of Berg’s schedule next week came not from her official House address but from an address ending with “@bergfornorthdakota.com.” Lockman said she will continue as the official House spokeswoman for Berg, while also volunteering her time as his political spokesperson in the days ahead.

While the website www.bergfornorthdakota.com is not an active domain, a search of domain registries revealed the website was registered through GoDaddy on April 26.

About Kristen M. Daum

Kristen Daum covers local and federal government and political news for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. She joined The Forum staff in August 2009, after graduating from Michigan State University with bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science/pre-law.